I did. We’d had more than a couple of slightly tipsy, tearful chats about Liam over the past couple of weeks. She was firmly team Liam—she couldn’t seem to understand why what he’d done felt like such a betrayal.
Was that how I’d missed that she was unhappy? Had I been too focused onmyself?
I felt a flutter in my chest.
“But you’re doing really well,” I said. “Your grades are good. You never said you were unhappy.”
“I’m notthatunhappy. It’s just not for me.”
“Eliza.” I sat on the end of the sofa. “Don’t joke around,this is serious. You’ve got a lot riding on this. It’ll set you up for the future.”
“I’ve done two years, Andy, and I don’t like it. Remember, I said I wasn’t sure before I even applied. But you and Mum were so keen.Yousaid if it didn’t work out, at least I’d have given it a shot. Well, I gave it a shot, it hasn’t worked out, and I want to cut my losses.”
My ears buzzed like a hair dryer was blowing on them.
“Cut yourlosses?”
“My time. I’ve got other things I want to do. Law doesn’t fit into that.”
“But… you already took two years out before you started. And it was so hard to get in.”
“Does that mean I have to stay then?”
“Unless you’ve got something better lined up, yes.” I folded my arms.
“Christian’s already over there. In Sri Lanka.”
“Who the heck is Christian?” I asked.
“Mum’s friend, the gallery one. He sold up. He’ll be in India in two weeks. I’m meeting him there.”
“But he’s, like, forty.”
“So what? We’re not shagging. He’s just a friend,” she said.
“And what do you plan to do there, exactly? Laze around smoking weed?”
“Content production. Visual. Commercial.”
I stared at her. “Please don’t tell me you’re quitting a law degree to be an Instagram influencer. InIndia.”
“Please, Andy, don’t talk to me like I’m a child. This is Western galleries and hotels. People who actually pay. They need proper visual assets for websites and things. I’ve already been doing it. That’s how I saved up to go.”
No. This was insane. She was the clever one—scatty, butbrilliant. She just needed the right guardrails to make the most of it.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“But you do?”
“This isn’t a game. This is the real world. Shit happens, things go wrong.”
How did she not remember this? That everything could change in an instant, and you could never be too careful? You needed to take the right steps to make sure everything stayed… safe.
“You need something solid behind you,” I said. “Pissing about being a content creator in Goa is not that.”
Mr. Darcy hopped off the sofa and shuffled into the kitchen.
“I’ve already decided, Andy. I’m going.”
